This invention relates to an apparatus for mounting components on a circuit board, more particularly to an apparatus for mounting components on a circuit board.
A conventional apparatus for mounting components on a circuit board is shown in FIG. 4. A mounting assembly comprises a variable (adjustable) rail 2 and a stationary rail 1. The variable rail 2 is movable in a forward or rearward direction (upwardly or downwardly in FIG. 4) with respect to the stationary standard rail 1. A circuit board 4 from a previous process station is supplied into the mounting assembly via standard rail 3 for mounting components thereon. After mounting the components thereon the circuit board 4 is turned over to a subsequent process station which has a standard rail 5. In the structure, the rail 3 of the previous process station, the rail 1 of the present process and the rail 5 of the subsequent process 5 must be arranged in series and the respective rail flow directions of which are laid in the same direction. Those conditions are the precondition in order to achieve a successive work sequence in the above system. Hence, if the type of the product, e.g. size of circuit board, is changed, operation of the conveyor must be changed, correspondingly.
However, when the standard rail of the previous process station is offset from that of the present process station, it is difficult to establish a linearly operating system unless all equipment is made by a common manufactured. Thus, alternative sources of equipment are not possible.
When an obsolete machine has to be replaced by brand-new one of a different maker, otherwise, when an equipment in a middle of a line system must be replaced due to the price advantage, there is a problem in that one worker can not operate a plurality of equipment concurrently because a monitor installed in the replaced equipment is differently faced in respect to other equipment. That is, in the case that at least one machine among the series of machines is replaced, the equipment having a different standard rail in respect to either the previous process station or the subsequent process station can not be installed. Further, even when the respective standard rails are colinear equipment having a reversed feed direction (i.e., right-to-left in FIG. 4) of the circuit boards with respect to the previous feed direction and that of the subsequent process, can not be installed.